Experiments were concerned with the initial ocular following responses to transient ramp movements of the visual scene in monkeys. These tracking movements are important in the stabilization of gaze which is so necessary for good visual acuity. We had previously shown in monkeys that responses have short latency (50 msec) and are transiently enhanced after saccadic eye movements due to the associated visual disturbance. We now report that an en masse movement of the visual scene is not the optimal stimulus for ocular following: Responses could be improved by partitioning the field into central and peripheral regions (center, 20-60 degrees diameter) and, with gaze centered, reversing the image motion in the periphery so that center and surround now saw contrary movement. Since tracking produced by motion in the periphery alone was always in the same direction as the stimulus, we conclude that these anomalous effects of motion in the periphery result from modulation of the system's sensitivity to motion at the center: in-phase suppression and antiphase enhancement. We suggest that this peripheral modulation assists in the tracking of 'objects'. Further, because this modulation was only apparent when the central region was large--40 degrees diameter was best--we suggest that, under normal conditions, the objects in question are generally nearby and stationary, their retinal images moving only because the observer moves; the contrary motion in the surround (due to the more distant background images) would then result from parallax. Using dichoptic presentation to allow each eye to be stimulated independently revealed that motion in the peripheral field of one eye could modulate the tracking induced by motion in the central field of the other eye: interocular transfer. This provides evidence that some part of the effect must occur at a site that receives inputs from both eyes and hence must be mediated by the CNS.